Ordeal by Cheque

Lauryn T. Robinson

　

Lawrence Exceter was a man of great modesty. He was a faithful resident of Galveston, Texas. In the early 1900’s, Lawrence’s father died, leaving him with a huge inheritance derived from an oil rig. At the tender age of 25 he became quite wealthy and spoiled himself with good times and greater conquests. He quickly became was the entrepreneur as he bought four hotels, and owned most of the restaurants in the area.

However, when a natural disaster hit Galveston, the fun times were cut short. A hurricane killed more than 6,000 residents; including the majority of his friends and all of his family members. The closest living survivor to Lawrence was his widowed neighbor, Mrs. Kate Middleton. The pair, who were in their late twenties at the time, became romantically involved. Shortly thereafter, they decided that it was best to move away and start over. Consequently, they moved to Hollywood, California to begin anew. They were later married and after three years of living in California, Kate became pregnant.

On October 3^rd, 1903, Kate gave birth to their first born, a healthy baby boy, Lawrence Exceter Jr., whom they joyfully nicknamed “Junior.” Junior was an intelligent and social able child who always managed to find some type of mischief and trouble to get into. Therefore, in 1909, and to help their son develop greater character and discipline, Kate and Lawrence sent Lawrence to Palisades School for Boys. Still, the school did not help change Junior’s poor behaviors. Kate and Lawrence decided that Jr. needed a more restrictive setting and placed him in Columbia Military Academy.

In military academy Lawrence Exceter Jr. met many new people, and experienced many new things. He became great friends with a young, Italian man named Tony Spagoni. They were roommates, and soon became “partners in crime.” Together, they caused more trouble than the entire student body. For instance, Toni and Jr. would often sneak off of school grounds and place bets on whatever venture they could find. They also threw many parties and snuck off to many more off- campus events. Still, somehow they never got caught in their misdeeds. Years of mischief helped the pair develop a lifelong friendship.

Upon Jr’s arrival home, Lawrence Sr. surprised his son with a new Cadillac. However, within weeks Jr. had wrecked his new car. With hopes to straighten Jr. out once and for all , Lawrence Sr. sent Jr. to Stanford. He was a shoe-in as he always excelled academically. Jr.‘s irresponsible behavior continued. That is, by his second year in college, Lawrence Jr. and a fellow student were expecting a baby. Once more, Lawrence Sr. had to bail his son out of a bind and paid the woman $25,000.00 to speak nothing of the child’s father.

After college Jr. finally met what his father referred to as a “ suitable woman”. After a three-year-courtship, Lawrence Sr. he paid for their wedding and the couple was joined in matrimony. The only problem was that Jr. wasn’t really that into the marriage, but he went along with it as to please his father. As a result, he cheated on his wife. Surprisingly, the affair was with his old friend Tony Spagoni’s wife.

Jr. already owed Tony from their college days at the track. In an effort to make up for his affair, and to probably rid himself of guilt, he paid back Tony, and attempted to rekindle their friendship. He also began gambling again, and his marriage of four years was now coming to an end. After the divorce, he quickly spiraled back into his gambling addiction, which caused him to slip into a deep depression. He now owed more than five people money. Deep into debt and without financial resources available for payments, he was brutally beaten by his debtors, and ended up in the hospital. Sadly, Lawrence Exceter Jr. died. His father paid off his debt and planned his funeral. Lawrence Sr. never had the son he expected, but he was still his son, and he loved him dearly.